Giants Make Alyssa Nakken First Female Coach in MLB History

The San Francisco Giants have hired 29-year-old Alyssa Nakken as an assistant coach, making her the first female coach in Major League Baseball history. Nakken is a former softball standout and four-time Academic All-American player for Sacramento State. Team manager Gabe Kapler was conducting a search outside of the organization to fill one of the positions on his coaching staff while also picking Nakken’s brain and bringing her into important discussions as a way to vet her for the role.

“I honestly didn’t even know the interview was happening,” Nakken told NBC Sports. “It was just me having conversations with Gabe and some of the staff about my thoughts on the clubhouse and the team and how do we put the best team on the field every single night.”

Kapler said that he felt that Nakken was a good fit after months of searching for the perfect coach for the Giants. The team said Nakken has been responsible for “developing, producing and directing a number of the organization’s health and wellness initiatives and events.”

Nakken has been with the Giants since 2014 when she joined the baseball operations department as an intern. Kapler has had his eye on Nakken since he started his new role as manager, as Nakken made a point to ask him how he was doing shortly after his hire.

“Never once did Gabe talk about being the first or even being female,” Nakken said. “We needed an All-Star on this staff to just help kind of guide the ship because all of these coaches are new except for Ron Wotus and I’ve been in the organization for five years.”

Keplar has been focused on including diversity into the coaching team for the Giants as well as talent. The manager indicated throughout the winter meetings that he would be looking to hire some coaches for nontraditional roles. Keplar kept his word, as Nakken will be the first female coach in the 151 years of the MLB.

“I know the ins and outs and who to talk to,” she added. “I’ve given blood, sweat, and tears to this organization already, literally, and I’m so excited to continue that.”